Serena to wed - and you read it here

THE summer of tennis is just beginning, but Serena Williams is already enjoying a lap in the winner's circle.

Williams took to social media to announce she had become engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

The 35-year-old used the social media aggregation website to break the news to the world, publishing a poem that lifted the lid on the dramatic way her boyfriend proposed.

Williams revealed all on her Reddit page in a post entitled "I said Yes”.

"I came home a little late, someone had a bag packed for me, and a carriage awaited - destination, Rome,” Williams wrote.

"To escort me to my very own charming, back to where our stars first collided, and now it is full circle. At the same table we met by chance, this time he made it not by chance, but by choice.

"Down on one knee, he said four words and I said yes.”

Ohanian is an American internet entrepreneur who has been involved in several successful start-ups, including Initialized Capital, Hipmunk and Breadpig, although Reddit, where he is executive chairman, remains his most profitable.

The news of the engagement is a rare occasion where the pair has acknowledged their relationship, as neither Williams or Ohanian feature prominently on each other's social media accounts.

It seems that will soon change, as Ohanian took mere seconds to reply to Williams' statement confirming the news on the proposal.

"You made me the happiest man on the planet,” he wrote.

No date is set for the impending nuptials, however the couple will find a hard time fitting a ceremony into a crowded tennis calendar that is set to resume in days.

The world No.2 will be hoping to keep the smile on her face as she heads to Australia in the coming weeks, as she looks to reclaim the Australian Open title.

Williams couldn't defend her crown in 2016, losing in the final to German Angelique Kerber.